Budget

Deficit Climbs to $303 Billion Over First Two Months of Fiscal 2019

By The Fiscal Times Staff

The U.S. budget deficit jumped to $303 billion in October and November, the first two months of the 2019 fiscal year, according to data released by the Congressional Budget Office Monday. Here are...
Inside the Remarkable — and Costly — Decline of the IRS

By Michael Rainey

Weighed down by budget cuts and staff reductions, the number of audits performed by the Internal Revenue Service has been dropping for years. A new report from ProPublica and The Atlantic takes a...
Trump Says He’d Be ‘Proud’ to Shut Down the Government Over Border Security

By Yuval Rosenberg

With funding for parts of the federal government set to expire on December 21, nobody expected Tuesday’s Oval Office meeting between President Trump and Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck...
Why a Shutdown Really Could Happen Right Before Christmas

By Yuval Rosenberg

Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are scheduled to meet with President Trump on Tuesday to resume negotiations over funding for a border wall with Mexico. The talks will set the stage...
Trump Suddenly Wants Billions More for Defense: Report

By Michael Rainey

President Trump will request $750 billion for the next Pentagon budget, reversing course on possible defense cuts he discussed just a few weeks ago, Politico’s Wesley Morgan reported Sunday. Top...

How Congress Got So Broken

By Yuval Rosenberg

More than 50 House members chose not to seek re-election in 2018, and a new report from nonprofit groups Issue One and the R Street Institute examines what drove so many to that decision. The report...
Larry Kudlow Still Insists Tax Cuts Will Pay for Themselves, Deficits Will Fall 'a Lot'

By Yuval Rosenberg

Isn’t it time to admit that the tax cuts are not going to pay for themselves? Larry Kudlow, the director of President Trump’s National Economic Council, was asked that question Friday morning on CNBC...
How Much Would a Federal Jobs Guarantee Cost?

By Michael Rainey

One of the more provocative ideas being kicked around on the progressive left these days is a federal jobs guarantee. Proponents say that too many American workers have been left behind in an...
Shutdown Watch: Congress Passes Stopgap Deal, Postponing Wall Fight

By Yuval Rosenberg

The House and Senate on Thursday passed a two-week extension of government funding via voice votes, pushing the deadline in the ongoing fight over money for President Trump’s border wall until...
Shutdown Watch: Will Trump Play the Grinch This Christmas?

By Yuval Rosenberg

Lawmakers agreed on Monday to a two-week extension of government funding, pushing off the deadline for a partial government shutdown and an ongoing fight over money for President Trump’s proposed...

No, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, a $21 Trillion Pentagon Accounting Error Can’t Pay for Medicare for All

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Newly elected representative and social media lightning rod Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) sparked a round of controversy this weekend when she compared the potential cost of Medicare for All to the...
Congress Nears Deal Pushing Shutdown Deadline to Just Before Christmas

By Michael Rainey

Congress and the White House are working on a deal for a two-week extension of government funding that would push the deadline for a fight over a possible government shutdown and money for President...
Trump, After Boosting Military Budget, Calls It ‘Crazy!’

By Yuval Rosenberg

Although he has repeatedly hailed the deal he made earlier this year to increase spending on what he called a “depleted” military, President Trump on Monday declared on Twitter that U.S. defense...
Trump Ready to Spend ‘Buckets of Money’ on Infrastructure: Report

By Yuval Rosenberg

Get ready for more “infrastructure weeks” ahead in 2019. The Trump administration is preparing to make another push for a $1 trillion infrastructure package, The Wall Street Journal reports (paywall...
'Don't Cut Military Spending,' Republicans Warn Trump

By Yuval Rosenberg

The Republican chairs of the Senate and House Armed Services committees take to the op-ed page in Friday’s Wall Street Journal (paywall) to push back on President Trump’s recent request to trim the...